SOE unveils EverQuest Next

Over the weekend, Sony Online Entertainment held its annual Fan Faire, a meet-and-greet for those interested in finding out everything that's going on with EverQuest, EverQuest II, DC Universe Online, The Agency, and more. However, that's not all that SOE had in store, as the massively multiplayer online role-playing game company also took the opportunity to announce its latest evolution of the EverQuest franchise, tentatively titled "EverQuest Next."

Kelethin appears to be in for a facelift.

As detailed in a panel posted to SOE's official Facebook page, EverQuest Next will be an all-new MMORPG effort from the storied developer. However, unlike 2004's EverQuest II, the new title will not be a continuation of the events that began in the 12-year-old original. Instead, the studio is positioning EverQuest Next as a "reimagining of the EverQuest universe," one that will have "familiar faces, races, and places" but operate as an alternate dimension and with a "clean slate."

Those statements were supported by a batch of concept art that accompanied SOE's EverQuest Next panel. The shots showed a variety of familiar environments, including the human town of Freeport and the elven forest of Faydark. Other shots showed detailed images of familiar races and monsters, including dark elves, ogres, and ghouls.

The design panel also noted that the next EQ will include a range of classes more in line with the original rather than the more specialized slate available in EQ2.

"We wanted to make the next EverQuest be something that still keeps the flavor the original and the lore and core tenants of it, but we wanted to make something that is truly next generation," said SOE president John Smedley of the game's direction. Smedley also said that SOE plans to provide a wide range of scalability for the game, noting that EverQuest Next will accommodate cutting-edge tech right down to minimalist laptops.

EverQuest Next remains in the early development phase, and SOE did not offer an expected release window or platforms.

hey calypa umm personally just dont put eq1 or eq2 in the same genre as a console mmo because they dont match up. even with out date graphics eqoa is better just due to the fact that ur not behind some 17inch computer screen while in eqoa ur just chilling on the couch. This gives eqoa a much better feel and with that a much better comfort lvl. just think a western game like eqoa on the ps3 = better then some cartoonish eastern game and better then any other garabage you can throw at the ps3 if they just get off their arsh

As Bart Scott would Say !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can't Wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! give use some info ive tried like every mmo and the saying power for me is just low all suck. Atm trying pc games lol hate it so much need eqoa on the big screen while im sitting on my couch. Wow, runescape, ddo, everquest 2, ect ect ect all just trash. Atm im thinking of going back to eqoa but umm not willing to go and buy a ps2 again after I sold mines over 3 years ago for a ps3 in hopes for a new eqoa because at that time eqoa was hot as helllllllllllllllllllllll

Please.... Again? How many times do we need to "redo" EverQuest? You can't live in the past, guys. You had your days of fame, and those days are over. I'm tiring of the whole "next EQ" garbage. I quit EQ to play EQ2, which was supposed to be the grand continuation of EQ. It was completely different and though it has not completely fallen on it's face, it's little more than recycled content. Every expansion that comes out.. Oh yep, I was there! Newest one, Velious. Yep, been there! Is it impossible to have a completely new idea, guys? And then came Vanguard, which was supposed to be the TRUE predecessor to EQ. It was supposed to be EQ gameplay in a new exciting world. Guess what. It flopped. Now this? Stop beating a dead horse already and come up with a new IP.

I hope it is only for the computer it will be lame if it tries to dumb down for the other systems. If it was not a MMO I would not care as much. But EQ Next should not be watered down to console levels. So Sony here is your chance to get people away from WoW do not waste it.

Players arent looking for graphics when playing MMOs,just look at WOW,graphics arent so good but still the game is very popular+if the graphics are too beautiful,you lose players cause its not everyone who will spend money upgrading their pc.

For anyone who thinks any MMO will want to beat WoW's subscription numbers, Many of the major ones aren't. I can tell you FFXIV isn't and I doubt EQ next will. You don't exactly make a hardcore MMO to try to beat a casual MMOs that's barely a MMO numbers. These are true MMOs being made.

Honestly PvP games need to stay away from balanced classes and such, make each class special and make them all work together. There might be one class that excels in a nice team but sucks alone. Developers have to remember they aren't creating a chat box but a MMO, people are supposed to work together.
as for MMOs not working on consoles, I agree from a UI format but besides that there's no reason they can't. Sure the graphics might not improve ever but so what. Do you really need to improve the graphics when making a expansion? not really. FFXI might not of improved much graphically, but it was a wonderful game and still is.

That is because when balancing classes they keep everything in perameters the same. They should not TRY to make a perfect balance. As long as there is not classes that totally destroys another class then its fine. I hate when every charter has the same range, or all charters have some way to stun,... make people different. This should not be hard to do. There are SOOO many ways to fight Close combat, near combat, distance. Then there is Stelth, magic, strength, environment, ... Too many ways to make different classes differenate from eachother

@ taxonomic
PvP focus mmo's will always fail subscription wise.. Why? Because u can never truly have perfect balance because not every one plays there role right and someone will always Q.Q about why cant my class kill the class even if they are evenly gear.. And lets not forget Pvp actually takes skill, quick thing and quick reaction..
The pvp in Wow has come a far way (still not perfect) but you still got crappy players who makes the game not fun for others...

@Drummerdickens
Sorry to hear that you didn t play DAO cause it s a wonderful game on both pc and consoles but don t be too quick to judge MMO on consoles.As I said FFXI was pretty good on PS2.Just give consoles a chance.

From what I read it seems EQ Next is focusing on PvP. Though I'm not too fond of PvP, this is actually a good tactic, considering that other than Shadowbane there really hasn't been a concerted effort to make a heavy PvP MMO, unless I missed a few.
WoW does a lot of things greatly, but not one of those things is PvP, so I'm willing to bet Sony figured this was the one thing they could do better. Just a theory, but from my viewpoint it seems like a good way to poach hardcore types that feel trapped in WoW.

@Ohaidere I read ya, but i honestly doubt that most people who play MMOs care that much about the graphics and i also doubt that most people who stop playing an MMO after a while don't do so because they got bored with the graphics rather than many other things. And for that matter, EQ1's initiatl graphics is still good enough to enjoy it in present day. I doubt very much that more than a few percentage of the customers would actually choose to get this new MMO for their PC rather than console just because of their version of the game then having a higher chance of looking better in the future. The price might be lower, the features might be more plentiful, but you don't get a game for the PC rather than PS3 for the graphics, unless you have a really high-end PC of course, because with a keyboard and a mouse you'll get about the same important things on a PS3 as on a PC with an MMO.

i kinda look forward to this. i enjoyed the first eq a lot, and could never really get into wow. i mean, total respect for wow, 12 million subscribers can't be wrong, but it was always been a bit childish looking for my taste.

@Robbyspry
The main problem with putting in on a console is that it limits the game's technical progress to the static realm of a console, instead of the constantly improving realm of PCs. Now, it might not be a big deal since they're claiming that it will be able to run on low end comps as well as high end ones, but if you look at EQ 1's graphics now, and EQ 1's graphics at launch- a PS2 would likely not be able to run it in it's current state.
Not to mention look at FFXI- the game's graphics have virtually gone nowhere in 7 years because it's been developed for a console. This late in a console cycle would be a bad idea to launch a PC/console cross-platform MMO.

@atopp399 MMOs "might" work fine on a console, but honestly it's just a complete waste and horrible idea, thinking about game design and "modularity". First, even if mouse/keyboards are enabled, they will have to make the UI controller-friendly, which is horrible. Don't even dare to say FFXI's UI is good. Second, MMOs are very long-lasting games, some might even outlive the "lifespan" of a planned console generation. As computer hardware evolves, so does the game's graphics and features. If you need examples of that, EQ1 has gone through so many changes (new models at first, then improved textures, then the adition of Pixel/Vertex Shader effects). Looking at EQ2 and even WoW is the same: new expansions come out, they improve textures and sometimes even add new effects to the engine (improved shadow maps, higher-poly count monster models, etc). All that is impossible on a console, because it's a fixed piece of hardware. FFXI, for example, changed almost nothing graphically. They are currently at the limit of the system, being unable to improve textures or add new effects because of lack of processing power and, more importantly, system memory. So, yeah, as a long-time MMO gamer that has experienced more than a dozen titles since EQ1's debut in the late 90s, I want them to stay the hell away from consoles.

@atopp399 MMOs "might" work fine on a console, but honestly it's just a complete waste and horrible idea, thinking about game design and "modularity". First, even if mouse/keyboards are enabled, they will have to make the UI controller-friendly, which is horrible. Don't even dare to say FFXI's UI is good. Second, MMOs are very long-lasting games, some might even outlive the "lifespan" of a planned console generation. As computer hardware evolves, so does the game's graphics and features. If you need examples of that, EQ1 has gone through so many changes (new models at first, then improved textures, then the adition of Pixel/Vertex Shader effects). Looking at EQ2 and even WoW is the same: new expansions come out, they improve textures and sometimes even add new effects to the engine (improved shadow maps, higher-poly count monster models, etc). All that is impossible on a console, because it's a fixed piece of hardware. FFXI, for example, changed almost nothing graphically. They are currently at the limit of the system, being unable to improve textures or add new effects because of lack of processing power and, more importantly, system memory. So, yeah, as a long-time MMO gamer that has experienced more than a dozen titles since EQ1's debut in the late 90s, I want them to stay the hell away from consoles.

Kind of excited about this actually. Played EQ for 3-4 years and then EQ2 after that for a couple years. Would be nice to go back to Norrath in an experience closer to EQ1. However, there needs to be a Mac version as I no longer use PC and won't go back.

This could be awesome. Lets hope they do it right and incorporate the elements from the original game that made it great. Especially !! the music and the tension. I sware people just don't realize how captivating the music was in the original. The suspense / fear factor played a large part in keeping a player engaged.. Good luck SOE. See you guys in a couple years when they beta test.

If they keep everything that made the original EQ so good back in the day and redo the graphical aspect of the game then ill be happy with this. The only thing keeping me from wanting to go back to EQ1 is how dated the game is so this news is good news.
Lets see if it can live up to the original instead of becoming another over casualised WoW clone full of kids.

First, it needs to run well on current computers. EQ2 ran like crap even on really good machines. I had the best nVidia video card(I think it was a 6800 Ultra) and CPU(not an extreme edition) at the time and it still ran poorly.

Second, they need way less classes. I see according to the article they are moving in this direction which is good. EQ2 was so annoying having so many of each type of class which pretty much all did the same thing.

If it is similar to EQ1 while at the same time making it slightly easier and more enjoyable to solo it will be a winner in my book.

I also agree an MMO could work fine on a console. Look at Final Fantasy XI or XIV. Sure, maybe the console version will have slightly inferior graphics but as long as mouse/keyboard support is available it really is no different than a prebuilt computer.

@ Odins_Fury - "The PS3 has keyboard and mouse support, so I'm tired of hearing this "keep it off the consoles" nonsense. " - Well said. The PS3 is a lot more than simply a gaming console, which X360 owners probably never will grip.

drummerdickens well tough luck I don't care. The developers out there don't care about PC. Now you'll feel the pain that the developers have caused to us. You got God Of War 3. Heavy Rain (Fahrenheit predecessor which was available on PC) while we got Diablo series, StarCraft series and what else. Nothing else. Everything we've almost got, consoles do too(only those series and couple of other one's). So now I am speaking for the PC community. I hope you suffer!

@method115
Sorry to hear you didnt get to play Dragon Age on pc. It is freaking awesome and for others out there who are timid about pc and having to upgrade ..consider this. I just bought a computer for 490 dollars off ebay. Phenom quad core with 4 gig of corsair gaming ram and GTS 250 video card, 320 gig of hard drive space (2 160's in raid setup) and it smokes every game I've thrown at it except maybe Crysis which I still run on high. Dragon Age, Risen, Batman Arkham Asylum, COD4, etc all at max with 4x AA. In about 6 months I'll spend another 200 and get a 460 nvidia card and be set for a year or more easy knowing I can always buy another card to meet any new game down the road for the next 2 to 3 years. (and this is at MAX settings too)

@ drummerdickens
lol I'm in the same boat as you. I used to be a PC gamer but since I work with PC's all day now I quit that and got a console. When star craft 2 got released I had to over clock my PC to the max it would go and it's barely playable now.
Your missing out on Dragon Age though it was a great game even on the Consoles. Not sure what the PC version was like but I know the Console version was more then good enough.

@Frostnut
My PC is so old it can't play any games and I only have a PS3. I also want to play FF Online.
The difference between you and me is that I know it will suck on the PS3 in comparison to on a PC. I still haven't bought Dragon Age Origins because I'm waiting to get a gaming rig.

All you people who are shortsighted enough to ask for it on PS3; don't you realise that there are quite simply not enough buttons on a PS3 controller to effectively operate a good MMO?
Keep it off the consoles.

They should have called it EverQuest Last. Are people tired of this game yet. I did like EQ2, but WoW took up so much of my time, that I had to drop EQ2 and even GuildWars. ******************************************************** Kleeyook
Also on PS3, no monthly fees but microtransaction plz!
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It won't be on the PS3. They already tried that with EverQuest Adventures for the PS2 and that was a total disaster. You think they are going to waste time transferring this game to the PS3? Any MMO that comes to the PS3 will definitely have a fee. Sony needs to make all the money it can get, after losing billions for the last 2 yrs. I would be surprised if EverLast's fee is even higher.

MMO on a console? Yea goodluck, just grab a gaming PC. Chances are you can spend less than 200 on a video card and should be good to go. Oh and youll be playing games that last longer than a week and aren't 60.